Should Business Professionals Blog?

The latest in Lorelle’s blogging challenge series is a topic I like to discuss a lot - Should Business Professionals Blog?. Mind that neither am I an expert on blogging or psychology nor an executive in any business to make statements. This is purely out of my experience of blogging as a professional.

Self Expression

I had started this blog with the aim of being able to reach a wider range of participants for discussions on the topic of technology. As it has turned out, the blog is somewhere serving my need of self-expressions. This is necessary because unknowingly a lot of times I have obscure thoughts on a topic. When I write on it, I am able to sort out the issue better and quicker. And yes, I do look forward to discussions, but I also make sure that I scratch my personal itch.

As A Learning Experience

Blogging has also paved a new path of learning for me. I now read a lot more stuff online, more importantly I have started reading people rather than web sites. I do some research before I write on a topic which has enriched my knowledge.

What has also helped is that the comments have worked as a feedback for me which is imperative for any improvement. The problem of feedback is first to find who can give, on what will they and then communicate effectively. Blogs can make this easy.

From these perspectives I would say that every professional should blog. The activity of blogging gives one a chance to stay in touch with the dynamic world and stay in touch with the leaders or pioneers in the world. I would have missed so many good conversations with so many good people but for this blog. Not that you cannot email them or call them. But blogging provides that common platform for discussions through comments, pingbacks and trackbacks. Blogging can provide a lot of personal benefits to a professional.

As A Marketing Tool

Blog is no less effective than any other marketing tool one can use today. Once expressed, your thoughts can reach out to millions there. Blogs are used to discover by the layman. If you have a blog you stand a better chance of being discovered by someone. It also becomes a resume for you. It speaks about your expertise, your aptitude and your attitude. Next time someone asks for your resume you can point them to your blog.

To Talk To An Individual, As An Individual

Blogging is one of those tools that can be used to address not only a group, but also the individual in the group. Why not the press reports? First because the press reports will always be filtered through a mesh of editors, and secondly there are hardly any press reports that talk about people. They usually talk about companies. When you blog you can be a face for your business. A face that is more personal than a mechanical one. Your blog can be a platform for your competitors to challenge, your customers to rant or the happier ones to praise you.

There have been various instances of businesses leveraging blogs to their benefits. Like using them to attract prospective employees, building communities or catching on to the trends in the market earlier.

But

These benefits of blogs are not available just like that. There is some effort in keep the blog up to date, so that the readers keep following it for latest news. There is an effort in retaining transparency so that the readers gain confidence that things are as they are being read. There is an effort in following conversations so that readers get response from you. I have met a lot of professionals who do not like or do not want to find time to do this explicitly or who feel insecure opening there thoughts to everyone. In such cases it might be too much trouble to maintain a blog.

Epilogue

The first argument I will always make is that a business professional should blog. Even if there are things that will make it difficult for one to achieve business benefits, the benefit of self expression is something that one should blog for. So yes, every business professional should blog, whether it is a single line or articles, it will make working and learning more effective and enjoyable.